Re:Gender works to end gender inequity by exposing root causes and advancing research-informed action. Working with multiple sectors and disciplines, we are shaping a world that demands fairness across difference.

Health, Reproductive Rights & Sexuality

Full equality for women and girls can be attained only when they have the information and services they need to lead healthy lives and make informed and independent decisions about their health, reproductive health and sexuality. Health for women depends on many factors, including access to safe water and nutritious food; affordable care and insurance; disease prevention and access to comprehensive reproductive and maternal health services; and awareness and support for women with HIV/AIDS and other diseases and disabilities. Health is not limited to physical well-being but extends to sexuality, mental health and body image as well.
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Today, as the Black community recognizes the 12thAnnual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we stand at the crossroads of heightened awareness, education, and potential eradication. To understand the magnitude of being in such a positive position, it is imperative that we examine how far we’ve come and how close we find ourselves to alleviating the stranglehold that HIV/AIDS has held on our communities.

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Long considered a “dirty little secret,” when the disease imploded in Black America, many people began to frantically gaze around in hopes of finding a reason why it could never happen to them; however, as HIV/AIDS began to affect our friends, families, and loved ones, the conversation began to shift from one of blame and hopelessness to one of compassion and purpose.

Though the numbers remain extremely troubling, with life saving treatments, community outreach, and education, African-Americans are living longer, healthier lives, and this pivotal breakthrough is due in large part to the tireless efforts of such organizations as the Black AIDS Institutein Los Angeles.

After a period of substantial decline, the global abortion rate has stalled, according to new research from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO). Between 1995 and 2003, the overall number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15–44 years) dropped from 35 to 29; according to the new study, the global abortion rate in 2008 was virtually unchanged, at 28 per 1,000. This plateau coincides with a slowdown, documented by the United Nations, in contraceptive uptake, which has been especially marked in developing countries. The researchers also found that nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, and almost all unsafe abortions occur in the developing world. The study, Induced Abortion: Incidence and Trends Worldwide from 1995 to 2008, by Gilda Sedgh et al., was published online today by The Lancet.

In the developing world, the abortion rate was 29 per 1,000 in both 2003 and 2008, after falling from 34 per 1,000 between 1995 and 2003. The situation was somewhat different in the developed world, excluding Eastern Europe, where the abortion rate was much lower, at 17 per 1,000 in 2008, having declined slightly from a rate of 20 in 1995.

“The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion of abortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is often clandestine and unsafe. This is cause for concern,” says Gilda Sedgh , lead author of the study and a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute. “This plateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake. Without greater investment in quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist.”

Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., riding a powerful wave of Internet indignation, raised $3 million in reaction to Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision, reversed yesterday, to end its grants.

The dispute between Planned Parenthood and the breast- cancer group Komen, two of the largest health advocacy groups for U.S. women, concluded when Komen overturned its plan to call off $680,000 in Planned Parenthood grants and said in a statement it wanted to “apologize to the American people.”

Komen originally cited a congressional probe of Planned Parenthood in declaring the group ineligible for funding. Planned Parenthood said Komen was pressured by anti-abortion forces, setting off a blaze of Internet protest on Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc (FB). and other websites.

“When it broke, it just caught fire,” Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood’s president, said yesterday in a conference call. “This is an extraordinary outpouring of support.”

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said on the House floor that she could no longer support Komen, the charity known for its pink ribbons and products. “I have been a big booster of the Susan G. Komen organization,” Speier said. “But not anymore.”

The liberal advocacy group MoveOn launched a petition Wednesday urging Komen to restore the funding for Planned Parenthood. Several congressional Democrats said the group should reverse course, including Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), the party’s campaign chiefs.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Komen was cowering at the prospect of a GOP “witch hunt.”

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leader in fundraising for breast cancer research and famous worldwide for its iconic pink ribbon, said Tuesday that it was halting all partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates because of recently adopted criteria that forbid it from funding any organization under government investigation.

In what looks to be a break between two organizations dedicated to women's health, a national breast cancerawareness group said it would stop providing funds toPlanned Parenthood centers for breast cancer examinations and other breast health services.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leader in fundraising for breast cancer research and famous worldwide for its iconic pink ribbon, said Tuesday that it was halting all partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates because of recently adopted criteria that forbid it from funding any organization under government investigation.

From Maine to Phoenix to southern Louisiana, Catholic churches across the USA this weekend echoed with scorn for a new federal rule requiring faith-based employers to include birth control and other reproductive services in their health care coverage.

The pay is low and injuries are common, but nursing care is a rare bright spot in the gloomy economic landscape, adding jobs at a steady clip. As the field has grown, so, too, have efforts to unionize.

An aging population is increasing its demand for home health and nursing care. Relatively low training requirements mean the job is accessible to a broad range of workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says the ranks of home health aides—about 1 million today--will increase by more than 50 percent in seven years.

By 2018, there will be more direct-care workers, as they are known, than teachers or public-safety workers, BLS data show. But mean wages for these careers still hover near the poverty line, and incidences of injury among these workers are second only to police officers, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Bill Cruice, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, a labor union representing 6,000 nurses and health professionals, said he has seen many changes in the industry.

Nursing homes have historically been owned and operated mostly by companies focused on health or elder care. But during the last 20 years, ownership has shifted to big investors, who are snapping up and consolidating homes. Private equity firms have gotten involved in the industry as well, with the Carlyle Group acquiring the nation’s largest nursing home chain, HCR ManorCare, in 2007.

This profile of the Commonwealth’s midwifery workforce provides state-level data on the demographic characteristics, employment context, and practice scope of midwives. It also offers a snapshot of populations served by mid-wives and public policy issues that affect midwives and midwifery care in Massachusetts. The report is based on a survey administered to midwives living and/or working in the state supplemented by in-depth interviews with five midwives, one obstetrician, and one state public health official. This report uniquely analyzes data collected from both certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and directentry midwives (DEMs), including certified professional midwives (CPMs); this summary distinguishes between these two groups and primarily focuses on midwives who are currently in practice. The overall survey response rate was 60% and includes 290 CNMs and 18 CPMs/DEMs – all of whom are women.

Berman’s resolution would designate this week, the 39th anniversary of the landmark decision inRoe v. Wade, as a week to “create a collaborative and cohesive force on the issue” of reproductive rights around the country.

According to a press release today:

Representative Lori Berman joined with fellow legislators throughout the United States in support of a resolution designating January 22-28, 2012 as “Reproductive Rights Awareness Week.”

“I am proud to work with Senator [Eleanor] Sobel, who has filed the Reproductive Rights Awareness Week resolution in the Senate, SB 2042. This resolution states important facts about women’s healthcare by designating a week to recognize the importance of women’s reproductive rights,” said Representative Berman. “It is imperative that we as a legislative body continue to hold open discussions on matters of reproductive health.”

The Obama Administration took a long-overdue stand on women's rights to basic reproductive and sexual health care by making a final ruling on contraceptive coverage under health reform. The decision requires that the vast majority of employer-based health insurance plans must cover preventive services for women including contraception without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible. This means all women with health insurance coverage will have access to the full range of preventive services originally recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), including all FDA-approved forms of contraception.

“All women should have access to contraceptive coverage, regardless of where they work,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “The administration stood firm against intensive lobbying efforts from anti-birth-control organizations trying to expand the refusal option even further to allow organizations and corporations to deny their employees contraceptive coverage. As a result, millions will get access to contraception—and they will not have to ask their bosses for permission.”

“I applaud the Administration for making a decision based on science that greatly expands women’s access to affordable contraceptive coverage," said Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA).